Investor Kevin O'Leary has dismissed France's shorter workweek as "the stupidest idea I have ever heard." However, several other leaders and tech executives believe artificial intelligence could soon make it a reality.
What Happened: O'Leary, known as "Mr. Wonderful" on Shark Tank, took to X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday and criticized the push for a reduced workweek.
" I think we should let the French go to a two-day work week and then kick their a** internationally," said O'Leary.
He then said that the concept of the work week already doesn't work anymore because of the digital economy. "I look at my staff, 40% of them work remotely all around the world."
"It’s project-based. Can you get it done by the 15th of June? Yes, I can. I don’t care when you do it, f- four-day, three-day, five-day," he concluded.
Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox.
Why It's Important: Earlier, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced legislation advocating for a four-day, 32-hour workweek in the U.S., without any cuts to workers’ pay.
He said that although American workers are now more than 400% more productive than they were in the 1940s, many are putting in longer hours while earning comparatively less.
Billionaire Steve Cohen and Zoom CEO Eric Yuan previously expressed their belief that AI will enable shorter weeks by boosting productivity.
Even Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has said he believes a three-day workweek could be possible in the future thanks to automation.
Photo Courtesy: Kathy Hutchins on Shutterstock.com
Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link.
Read Next:
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.